While the fall usually means back to school, cooler temperatures and shorter days, to most high school students across the state it also means one important thing: homecoming season. Dating back to the early 1900s, the term “homecoming” refers to the alumni of schools and universities returning home for a season game or for the football team returning home after playing schools further away. Just who started homecoming is still largely contested with the universities of Baylor, Illinois and Missouri claiming to have been the first ones. One thing for sure, Dallas ISD loves homecoming and all the activities it…

Editor’s note: On Oct. 14, campuses throughout the Dallas Independent School District welcomes a host of business, civic and community leaders to serve as Principal for a Day.  Dallas School Television also captured many similar experiences from other visitors in this video package. Kennedy-Curry Middle School — John Olajide, CEO & president of Axxess On Oct. 14, I had the pleasure of serving as “Principal for the Day” at the Kennedy-Curry Middle School in Dallas. The Principal for a Day is a project of the Dallas Independent School District that brings community leaders into schools across the district. The program…

*updated at 1:30 p.m. on 10/15/2014 Dallas County Health and Human Services clears Dallas ISD Teacher of any Risk for Ebola Exposure This morning, shortly after 9 a.m.,  a teacher at Saldivar Elementary reported to the school’s clinic with a low-grade fever. The teacher lives in the same apartment complex as a second healthcare provider who has been preliminarily diagnosed with Ebola overnight. Out of an abundance of caution, the school nurse properly notified the district’s Health Services department and the Dallas County Health and Human Services department. DCHHS was provided details about the teacher and her condition, as well…

Dallas ISD is looking to simplify its employee leave and absence policies. In an effort to make the policy easier to understand, the administration presented for a first reading a revised DEC (Local) leave and absence policy at the Oct. 8 Board of Trustees Briefing. The recommended updates more clearly define district attendance requirements, benefits and types of leave employees may take. In addition to making the policy easier to understand, Dallas ISD is placing an emphasis on improving the overall staff attendance rate. District staff attendance rates for the 2013-2014 school year averaged between 92-95 percent among campus and central…